Viscous Fan Clutch rattle & play

[hutchwilco]

My VQ25 has a bad rattle on the fan, and I’ve found it’s coming from the viscous hub/clutch bearing, and found there’s a pretty bad amount of play. The pulley that the belt drives appears fine and solid.

I’m yet to find a local (Christchurch NZ) used part, and Amazon obviously has them for US120 but shipping is outrageous. OEM is ex Japan and $600+.

seems there are no aftermarket parts for this except for the elgrand part from Dayco, but the part number doesn’t match  (and it’s a VQ35) so unsure if that’s compatible.

anyone know if you can pull/press whatever bearing the spindle is on and replace? I haven’t removed yet as I’m using the vehicle so hard for me to inspect myself.

also need to check if the viscous clutch needs checking. Previously I’d had a persistent belt squeal that I couldn’t eliminate and a presumed it was due to excess dust get in there (no underguards currently), but now it occurs to me maybe the clutch going bad might cause a squeal.

any thoughts, parts sources, dodgy fix advice welcome.

 

cheers

[KiwiRS4T]

Get one from a wrecker that doesn't have a bad amount of play. e.g. $27 from Pick a Part

Or email Nissan wreckers country wide - fan plus freight should be less than $100

[GTSBoy]

Also, question.....which bearing is stuffed? The fan is bolted to a hub that is on the front of the water pump. It's not a shagged pump we're talking about here?

[Slap]

If you cant get one in nz , are you able to switch to an electric fan.(thermos)

Heaps of them floating around.

Seems to be a pretty common mod.

Fans
Sensor/control trigger
Relay
Wire

[Akshunhiro]

It'll likely be the bracket itself. Not expensive. Part number should be 21046-4P100. $80USD from PartSouq (highly recommended, quick shipping from Dubai).

If it is the coupler, that's not too bad from PartSouq. ~$50 in shipping to Australia. NZ shouldn't be much different.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Akshunhiro

[hutchwilco]

Thanks all for the ideas. Hadn’t heard of partsouq. I’d written off pickapart as they never have Stageas but looking again I’ve found two V35 Skylines that should produce what I need.

Electric fan is a good alternative too.

 

To clarify the source of the problem, it’s not the bracket or the pulley (or the pump). The coupling assembly (highlighted in the pic) has the fan bolted onto it and does itself have a spindle in the back with a bearing where the viscous magic happens. It’s here there is play and rattle when running.

Not being able to remove and inspect it’s hard to figure out what’s serviceable. I was hoping and would have preferred to service the unit by pulling a bearing and replacing or something along those lines. Nevermind.

 

Judging by the parts diagram, the water pump is not behind this part but is further over and lower, set into the block with dual orings. Must be a different engine?

 

[Akshunhiro]

Your water pump is inboard and driven off the timing chain. Usually last quite a while. I'd avoid switching to electric thermo's. Clutch is more reliable.

[KiwiRS4T]

33 minutes ago, Akshunhiro said:

Your water pump is inboard and driven off the timing chain. Usually last quite a while. I'd avoid switching to electric thermo's. Clutch is more reliable.

^^^what he said. People changing to electric thermo fans often come a cropper.